What Are Kratom Extracts?

Kratom extracts are offering a new alternative to the regular powdered kratom sold in pills or to make tea. But what exactly are these extracts and how are they made? Read on to find out.

Kratom has made huge headlines over the past years, both as a medicinal substance and a recreational drug. Now, kratom extracts are providing users the ability to get much stronger doses of this powerful product.

In this post we take an in-depth look at kratom and kratom extracts, what they are, how they’re produced, and how to use them. For a full list of all our kratom products, click here.

Note: All the information below is intended for educational purposes only. We do not promote the use of kratom, neither for medicinal or recreational purposes. This article is designed to inform only.

WHAT IS KRATOM?

Kratom is a substance made from Mitragyna speciosa, a tropical evergreen tree native to Southeast Asia. Mitragyna speciosa belongs to the Rubiaceae plant family, along with a variety of other plants, including Coffea (coffee), Cinchona, and many others. Kratom leaves are usually processed into powder, tablets, or extracts.

In small doses, kratom works as a stimulant. In larger doses however, it produces strong sedative effects similar to those produced by opium or opiates. Kratom leaves contain over 25 different compounds, but the main active ingredients believed to be responsible for its effects are mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine.

Mitragynine is a psychoactive alkaloid, which interacts with the brain in similar ways to other alkaloids like morphine, quinine, and nicotine. It typically works by tricking receptors in the brain that generally respond to opioids.

7-hydroxymitragynine on the other hand, acts more like an analgesic or pain killers. With correct dosing, 7-hydroxymitragynine has also been reported to reduce anxiety.

Kratom plants are indigenous to various parts of Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Papua New Guinea, where it has been used medicinally since at least the 19th century.

Traditional uses for kratom include chewing leaves (similar to how coca leaves are chewed in parts of South America) to relieve feelings of fatigue, and even boost productivity. The leaves can also be macerated and brewed into tea, and has also been reportedly used to heal wounds or act as a local anesthetic. In the late 19th century, kratom was also reported to be used in the treatment of opiate addiction.

More recently kratom has become increasingly popular as a recreational substance. In Thailand for example, kratom was mixed with cough syrup, Coca Cola, and ice to create a “cocktail” known as 4x100. As the use of the cocktail became increasingly popular, it began to be seen as a problem across multiple Thai provinces.

Kratom is also used both recreationally and medicinally outside of Asia, often being sold in smartshops in The Netherlands and, up until 2015, head shops, bars, and online stores in the US. Today, kratom is illegal in the US where the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) considers it a schedule 1 substance and “imminent hazard to public safety” with “no medicinal use”. Possession and cultivation of kratom is also illegal in Thailand and Malaysia, as well as various other countries around the world.

Kratom has received a lot of attention due to its adverse effects. At small doses, adverse effects of kratom can include nausea, vomiting, itching, anxiety, increased urination, and loss of appetite. In moderate and high doses, adverse effects can include tachycardia, hypotension, sweating, dizziness, and more. Seizures, tremors, weight loss, and even psychosis have also been reported in frequent users. In the US, kratom has been linked to 15 deaths between 2014 and 2016.

WHAT ARE KRATOM EXTRACTS?

Kratom extracts are powerful concentrated forms of kratom. They are usually made by brewing crushed or powdered kratom leaves for prolonged periods of time to evaporate as much water as possible and produce a thick, dark paste, that contains a rich concentration of the main active ingredients found in the plant.

These extracts can be further processed into a powder, liquid tincture or oil, or solid as a solid resin. As with any type of plant extract, the goal of making kratom extract is to produce a refined product, that preserves the main ingredients of the plant and can be used in smaller, more powerful doses.

High-quality kratom extracts are usually prepared by skilled experts who have taken their time to experiment with the plant and derived a unique approach to extracting its key components.

HOW TO INTERPRET GRADING OF EXTRACTS

Kratom extracts are commonly graded as 1x, 5x, 10x, or some other digit followed by an "x". The meaning behind these gradings is generally misunderstood.

Many consumers think, that a kratom extract graded as 15x, for example, is 15-times stronger or contains 15-times the alkaloid content of regular, untreated kratom leaves. However, this isn’t true.

Instead, these gradings explain the extract's concentration factor by volume. For example, a 15x extract started out as 15 grams of powdered kratom leaves and was then reduced down to a 1 gram concentrate, while a 4x extract was made from 4 grams and reduced down to 1.

Another popular misconception is that extracts with a higher rates of concentration are more potent. For example, most people will assume that 15x extract will be stronger than a 5x one.

This isn’t necessarily the case, however, mainly because alkaloid content varies greatly across different types of kratom trees. Hence, the strain of a kratom extract is generally a much better indication of its strength than its grading.

HOW TO USE KRATOM EXTRACTS

There is a big debate around kratom extracts and their safety, with some users claiming they increase the potential for tolerance and negative side effects. Just like with any other substance, it all comes down to common sense. After all, you wouldn’t smash a bowl of 85% butane hash oil if you’ve never even smoked a joint before, right?

If you’re new to kratom, it's always a good idea to start of with a non-concentrated product like powdered or crushed leaves. Try to shop around for a medium strength strain and start out with a dose of about 1-2 grams.

Once you’re a bit more familiar with kratom, how it affects you individually, and your ideal dose and you’re confident you want to step things up, you may want to try an extract for enhanced effects and more bang for your buck.

When using any kind of extract, dosing is obviously really important. As we saw earlier, because there is no real standard of alkaloid content among different kratom trees, it can be really daunting and difficult to work out how much extract you should use to get the desired effects, while minimizing the risk of adverse effects.

Here is a very loose estimation of how you may go about dosing a kratom extract: If you generally use a 2 gram dose of standard kratom powder, try using about 0.2-0.3 grams of a 10x extract. If you’re really worried about suffering adverse effects, maybe consider a smaller dose of 0.15 grams.

Like we said earlier, using kratom extracts is just like using any other kind of concentrate. Use common sense and start out slow. After all, you can always take more if need be, but you can’t take less if you’re starting to feel negative effects. Also avoid using extracts frequently as you may increase your risk of developing a tolerance to kratom.

THE EFFECTS OF KRATOM EXTRACTS

A high-quality kratom extract will produce similar effects to regular kratom powder, just in much smaller dose. Small doses of kratom produce uplifting, stimulating effects similar to those produced by amphetamine and cocaine.

Larger doses of kratom on the other hand, produce sedative effects similar to opium and other narcotics. Below is a general list of the effects produced by kratom, both in powdered and concentrated forms.

POPULAR KRATOM EXTRACTS

The Zamnesia smartshop is dedicated to stocking high-quality natural psychedelics, power herbs, energizers and aphrodisiacs. We dedicate ourselves to sourcing high quality products from reputable sources and making them available to open-minded individuals like yourself.

If you’re interested in experimenting with kratom extracts, we’re proud to announce, that we now stock a variety of top-shelf concentrates. Below we've featured some of our most popular options.

15X THAI KRATOM EXTRACT (1 GRAM)

A high-quality powdered kratom extract, that produces effects with doses as small as 0.2 grams. Our 15x Thai kratom extract is known for producing very deep relaxation and strong euphoria. Experienced users may up their dose to 0.5 or 0.8 grams for much more potent effects.

15X BALI KRATOM EXTRACT (3 GRAMS)

Bali kratom is a favorite among experienced users, known for producing strong relaxing, pain relief, and euphoria. Our new powdered 15x Bali kratom extract harnesses all the best qualities of Bali kratom in a reliable, easy-to-use product. This extract isn’t quite as powerful as our powdered Thai extract, offering light experiences at doses of about 0.5 grams.

KRATOM RESIN EXTRACT

Kratom resin extracts are a popular alternative to the powdered extracts available on the market. They have a dark brown or blackish appearance and a texture similar to cannabis extracts like hash.

Resin extracts are made using some kind of solvent to cover the leaves and agitating the mixture in order to extract as much of the plant's compounds as possible. The resulting mixture is then strained and reduced to produce a gooey resin, that’s extremely rich in alkaloids.

10X THAI KRATOM EXTRACT (5 GRAMS)

If you want to experiment with non-powdered concentrates, we recommend trying our soft 10x Thai kratom extract. Made using only boiling water, this resin is completely chemical-free and allows you to harness all the benefits of Thai kratom in doses as small as 0.5-1 gram. Simply add it to 150ml of boiling water, steep for about 5-10 minutes, and enjoy.

Written by: Steven Voser Steven Voser is an Emmy Award Nominated freelance journalist with a lot of experience under his belt. Thanks to a passion for all things cannabis, he now dedicates a lot of his times exploring the world of weed.